Chapter 394: New Bolivia (Part 2) (Patreon)

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"Yuri, my friend. I need an explanation..."

With a dark and grim expression, Numar stared at Yuri, his eyes seemingly shooting flames.

If looks could kill, Yuri would have been riddled with holes by now.

Yuri, who hadn't slept all night, yawned. He already knew why Numar had come to him, so he simply shrugged his shoulders in response.

In the coup that took place a few hours ago, the performance of Yuri and his group of mercenaries could only be described as childish and terrible.

But the Forerunner had demonstrated great power during the coup, single-handedly decimating over two thousand government soldiers stationed in La Paz.

Unfortunately, Numar's old unit was also among the casualties.

It seemed that due to a misfire of a air-to-ground missile that accidentally hit the ammunition depot where Numar's old unit was located, a chain of explosions occurred, engulfing half of the military camp and instantly claiming the lives of two to three hundred soldiers, with countless others injured.

Numar had lost his only military force, so it was no wonder his expression was sour.

"Mr. President, I apologize for the loss your department suffered..."

Yuri naturally didn't follow Numar's line of thought. Compared to a warlord with guns, he and the Decepticons behind him preferred a puppet with no troops or power to rise to the top. "Considering the situation at the time, I believe you can understand. After you were suddenly placed under house arrest by the former president, I didn't know what was happening on your side, so I had to personally report the situation to my boss. Only after obtaining his approval did we deploy military aircraft to bomb all the targets in the original plan!"

He swiftly shifted the blame onto Numar with just a few words, and although he felt uneasy inside, there was no way for Numar to refute him.

After all, it was his own carelessness that led to him losing his military power and being placed under house arrest.

It could be said that Yuri had almost given his all in the recent coup. Without him, he wouldn't be the acting president of this temporary government.

But who knows, he still felt uncomfortable deep down.

Numar had served in the military for many years and had experienced the most chaotic period in Bolivia's history. He naturally knew that without military power, he was nothing.

But he could only keep it to himself!

Expressing his dissatisfaction with a light snort, Numar saw that Yuri wasn't willing to admit his mistakes and could only temporarily set aside this topic.

From the moment he got involved with funding a coup in a country, Numar knew that Yuri must have someone behind him. To be more specific, he must have a powerful force backing him, and that force was likely a malevolent overlord from a certain country.

Unfortunately, Yuri had remained tight-lipped about it. Every time he was asked, he was extremely cautious, neither admitting nor denying anything.

Numar had always suspected that the force behind Yuri was the United States. It wasn't surprising for him to have such suspicions since the former president of Bolivia had been at odds with the United States. Not only had he criticized their interventionist foreign policy on numerous occasions, but he had also nationalized several ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and Southern Copper mines in Bolivia, which naturally led to the United States supporting a coup in Bolivia.

However, the signs indicated that military aircraft had been deployed in the recent coup and indiscriminately bombed multiple targets in La Paz.

And it was widely known that most South American countries held strong animosity towards the United States. So if it was indeed the work of American military aircraft, South America would have erupted in anger long ago, and more than one country would have protested immediately.

So he was puzzled. Numar had racked his brains but couldn't guess who was supporting this coup from behind the scenes.

"It's time to come clean!"

Numar was not a fool.

Now that the coup had already succeeded, he knew that since the other party was willing to spend a large amount of money and even deploy military aircraft to ensure the success of the coup after his incident, they must have a plan. What they wanted might be more than just control over the Ministry of the Interior.

After pondering for a while in his mind, he organized his thoughts and looked at Yuri, saying, "My friend, I think there are some things you need to tell me now. We have control over La Paz, and we have already sent people to seek the support of the Supreme Court, the military, and the local police. The coup has succeeded, and I need an answer. Who are you guys exactly?"

Yuri smiled slightly, about to speak, when a cold and mechanical voice suddenly came through the earpiece he was wearing, cutting him off.

"Yuri, there's no need to tell him the truth. Until the next instructions from the master arrive, all we need to do is to completely control the situation in Bolivia!"

It was the voice of the Forerunner, and Yuri's eyes twitched upon hearing it.

He didn't know how this big shot knew about what was happening here, but clearly, the other party had overheard their conversation and given instructions.

Yuri nodded slightly, indicating his understanding, and then said to Numar, "Mr. President, you are too anxious. Taking control of La Paz doesn't mean you have complete control over Bolivia... We haven't received a response from Sucre yet, and the military's attitude is ambiguous. The air force refuses to recognize your legitimacy, and the navy is wavering... What you need most now is to quickly gain control over the whole of Bolivia, and that is clearly not an easy task!"

Speaking of which, Bolivia's military was quite interesting. Despite being a landlocked country, they had a navy, albeit only a few gunboats on inland lakes.

By maintaining a navy, Bolivia was constantly reminding itself that it had once been a country with access to the sea, and it didn't want to forget that it lost its coastal province to Chile in the War of the Pacific over a hundred years ago.

However, this seemed rather inspiring, but unfortunately, they overlooked the huge disparity in power between Bolivia and Chile, which made the situation rather embarrassing.

Not receiving a reply, Numar's expression grew even worse.

Yuri was an old fox after all. He smiled slightly and leaned in next to Numar, whispering, "Mr. President, both my boss and I believe that you will soon know everything. Of course, this won't affect our support for you. I just received news that my boss has approved a batch of military assistance, private technology, to aid your cause."

By providing military aid, Yuri was giving Numar a way out. This fatso knew very well that he was currently lacking people and troops. If he wanted to secure his position as president and gain recognition domestically and internationally, he couldn't do it without the support of Yuri and his group.

So, he followed the path offered and forced a smile, asking, "My friend, can you give me a little more information?"

"Of course!"

Yuri raised a finger and fixed his gaze on Numar as he slowly began, "The equipment for two standard infantry divisions is all equipment that was recently retired by a certain country, with at least seventy percent in new condition. We are also providing you with a tank battalion and two infantry fighting vehicle battalions, as well as approximately two hundred and seventy military trucks!"

"Hiss!"

Upon hearing this, Numar was initially delighted, but then he took a sharp breath, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

His lips trembled for a moment before he finally asked, "No additional conditions?"

"Hehe!"

Yuri smiled and didn't answer.

In this world, there is never free military aid. It's either for political needs or comes with additional conditions.

A certain country, often regarded as a sucker, had provided military aid to countries like North Korea, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It seemed like a free gift, but most armchair experts didn't know that the military aid to North Korea helped maintain the balance on the Korean Peninsula, diverting the attention of the United States, South Korea, and Japan, while providing a stable external environment for the old industrial base in the northeast.

As for the military aid to Southeast Asian and African countries, in the beginning, it was to gain votes to return to the United Nations. After the reform, it was mostly for mineral resources and opening up local markets. After all, Southeast Asian and African countries were once colonies of European and American powers. For a declining China to make a breakthrough in a pro-European and American country, initial investments were necessary.

Regarding whether they eventually took back what they had given, just look at the commotion caused by the South China Sea between the Philippines and a certain country. Japan and European countries were jumping around, but how many neighboring countries around the South China Sea stood up to support the Philippines?

And take a look at the news constantly propagated by the United States and European media about a certain country occupying Africa. They had been a sucker, but not only did they make a lot of money, they also left some countries with a bone stuck in their throat, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

But let's get back to the point!

Seeing Yuri's expression, Numar immediately knew he was overthinking things.

They were in the Ministry of the Interior's office building, where there were no outsiders. So Numar let go of his worries and asked directly, "What are the conditions?"

"Western Plateau. We want two plots of land for mining!"

"Western Plateau? Are you sure it's not the Eastern Plains?"

Numar thought they would make a demand that would be very painful for him, but it turned out to be just this.

Bolivia is a country rich in natural resources, and that is known worldwide.

Although the Bolivian government lacked the funds to conduct a detailed survey of the country's mineral resources and distribution, many European and American mining giants had voluntarily conducted surveys in areas they were interested in.

It could be said that Bolivia was a heaven-sent gift. The eastern pre-Cambrian region accounted for 30% of the country's land area, while the western plateau was a vast mountainous region. Even with incomplete surveys, various data indicated that it was one of the most mineral-rich areas in the world.

Gold, silver, copper, iron, manganese, tin, aluminum, zinc, antimony, tungsten, bismuth, magnesium, lithium, uranium, niobium, tantalum, sulfur, gypsum, asbestos, phosphorus, boron, cadmium, barium, indium, germanium, mercury, cobalt, arsenic, mica, marble, quartz, bicolored crystal, calcite, multicolored agate, nepheline, petroleum, natural gas—Bolivia had it all.

However, as a high-altitude country with an average elevation exceeding 3,000 meters, mineral development in Bolivia was extremely difficult, especially in the Western Plateau.

Yuri nodded expressionlessly; he was only partially aware of this.

Number Two had once told him that they must obtain the two plots of land in the Western Plateau because the base had assessed them and predicted that there were over eight billion tons of massive iron ore deposits underground, along with abundant associated minerals.

There was another location whose scale was much smaller than the iron ore deposits, but Yuri knew they had to secure it.

The reason was simple—it was a deposit of enriched uranium ore.

As for how to extract it after obtaining the land, that was not Yuri's concern. His responsibility was to negotiate this deal.

Numar almost immediately agreed. Although he was certain that there must be something valuable there, otherwise the force behind Yuri wouldn't be willing to provide over 300 million dollars in military aid to secure the two plots of land.

But most of the Western Plateau was an uninhabited and barren land. Even the greediest international mining giants, despite knowing its rich resources, were unwilling to exploit it. The tremendous difficulty and high cost of mining there were evident.

Since it was barren land and not a matter of selling the country, Numar didn't even think about bargaining and agreed on the spot.

Then he immediately inquired about the military aid, "So, my friend, how long will it take for your military aid to arrive? You know, the situation in Bolivia is uncertain right now, and I need to arm a military force as soon as possible to ensure control over the entire country."

After finalizing the coup plan two weeks ago, the base had been secretly smuggling weapons and equipment into Bolivia through various channels.

Currently, Yuri knew that there was enough equipment stored in La Paz to equip at least one Russian-style division.

He confidently replied, "The first batch will arrive in La Paz within three to five days, and it will be enough equipment for a fully equipped division."

By delaying the delivery for a few days, besides not wanting to expose the channels of the base, it was mainly for further consolidating their power.

The next week would undoubtedly be a crucial period in determining whether Numar could secure the president's seat. After a successful coup, all sorts of unforeseen circumstances would arise as different factions vied for power. Currently, La Paz was under the control of Yuri's mercenaries, allowing him to firmly grasp the situation.

"Three to five days?"

Numar frowned, but he reluctantly nodded.

He could barely accept three to five days, but he also saw some clues. He realized that in the upcoming decisions that would determine Bolivia's political situation in the next few years, he would inevitably have to rely more on Yuri. It wasn't a bad but also not a particularly good piece of news.

As he pondered his next plan, a soft knocking sound suddenly came from outside the office.

Yuri tapped the earpiece he wore on his right ear, knowing who it was.

Without waiting for Numar's permission, he took the initiative to turn around and open the door.

In an instant, a middle-aged man with reddish-brown skin, clearly of indigenous descent, appeared in Numar's sight.

At the same time, Yuri's voice sounded, "Mr. President, let me introduce him to you. This is Mora Kottir, a Bolivian and the future Minister of the Interior for your administration!"

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 395 Mora Kottir